This invention relates generally to methods and apparatus for computed tomography (CT), and more particularly to methods and apparatus for thermal stabilization for x-ray detectors in CT.
Present day CT systems use multi-slice detectors and data acquisition electronics connected/attached to detector modules. The scanner is required to operate for very low and high room temperature conditions. The data acquisition electronics generate heat and are cooled by forced air using axial flow fans. The detector modules temperatures are controlled by controlling the temperature of metallic rails using flexible heaters and variable speed fans. Thermal stability of the detector modules is critical to image quality. There is a requirement of CT detectors to operate at very high gantry speeds. Thermal stability of detector modules is important at high-speed gantry operations due to wind-effect on rails and fan efficiency degradation. The thermal stability of detector modules is important during the x-ray data and calibration to keep the calibration conditions updated.